i know......silly question

dawa · Guru

i know......silly question

vkgreenie · Senior Member

Hi Dawa

Just had a new matt glass battery fitted, after my last one (deep cycle) had a blow out at Croyden. Purchased this new battery at Mareeba from Brunos Batteries (good helpful service). My battery reads about 13.7 volts.

Hope that helps.

Cheers & beers

Paul

03_troopy · Guru

Here's a link to heaps of information about batteries, scroll down to state of charge, near the bottom of the page if you're not keen to read it all though.

Batteries FAQ

dawa · Guru

03_troopy wrote:
Here's a link to heaps of information about batteries, scroll down to state of charge, near the bottom of the page if you're not keen to read it all though.

Batteries FAQ

My brain refuses to co-op0erate when I read those techie pages.
most evenings it is 13.5 so guess that is OK
Dawa

Happywanderer · The Master

Hold on, I will go out and get my little bit of paper out of the van.

Happywanderer · The Master

OK, my son in law installed a gauge on the van wall so I would know the strength of my battery at all times. Unfortunately he put in a digital one which is just green lights going down to yellow and then red.
So I have to refer to the paper that came with it if I want to know the numbers.
The highest is 10 bars which is 13.5 and graduates down. I never let it go below 5 bars which is 11.54 - 11.71.
Hope that helps Dawa

dawa · Guru

Happywanderer wrote:
OK, my son in law installed a gauge on the van wall so I would know the strength of my battery at all times. Unfortunately he put in a digital one which is just green lights going down to yellow and then red.
So I have to refer to the paper that came with it if I want to know the numbers.
The highest is 10 bars which is 13.5 and graduates down. I never let it go below 5 bars which is 11.54 - 11.71.
Hope that helps Dawa

Yeeeeees that i can understand cos it is simple......looks like this big battery was well worth the money.

Dawa

beiffe · Guru

I am not an expert so this is just as a lay persons knowledge and is only from my basic knowledge and what I have learnt by talking to people on the road and persons whom I consider know what they were talking about. I don't want to start a debate as this is normally a naughty subject on other forums.

There is a variance when reading battery voltages depending on the load or charge being effected on the battery.

When you say "The highest is 10 bars which is 13.5 and graduates down. I never let it go below 5 bars which is 11.54 - 11.71." I suggest that the 13.5 would be when it is being charged via solar or charger as I believe a high charge for a battery at rest (no load/charge) is about 12.8.

I hope the 11.71 was when the battery was under load such as a fridge etc as I think it is too low for a normal battery. Bringing a battery this low I believe will greatly increase its race to its final death

One of the problems with most batteries is that the load / charge can greatly effect the charge reading.

If you have a chart with SOC then read the voltage for 50% SOC and then use that as a guide. Just be aware a battery that is nearly dead will still record the same high voltage but just will not be able to deliver the power.

Most claim that batteries should only be read at rest when there has been no load or charge for a few hours which is hardly the way we use our batteries.

Normal AGM batteries when new should deliver about 50% eg 100AH battery should deliver 50AH if the drain is low eg lights and Tv but a lot less if using a fridge etc. The level of power drained will dictate the amount available. All batteries deteriorate as they are used and the level of deterioration will increase as they are abused/used. Cranking batteries are a lot less as they only deliver about 20% of their rated power as they are designed to deliver high currents for a short period such as starting your vehicle.

As batteries age their capacity is lowered so therefore the available power/usable AH's will decrease. That is why many say their batteries were working fine and then they just seemed to die and cant deliver the power they used to.

I hope some of the learned folks will give some figures as I don't use standard batteries so my figures are not of any use for you but someone should be able to give you better figures.

Regards
Brian

dawa · Guru

Brian;

Thank you so much for taking the time to put this into simple terms.

Dawa

Happywanderer · The Master

In simpler terms Brian I read those figures off the paper that came with it.
When it is full it is on 10 bars as I explained above. They are little green lights so can't be altered in any way.
The only way, at the moment, that the house battery charges is when I am driving, so I have no way of overcharging it. it just charges. Easy.
I never let it go below 5 bars as I said but normally wouldn't let it go below 6 or 7 bars.
When I am driving there is nothing being used on the house battery. I don't leave anything on.
So in simple terms If I seethe gauge has dropped down too much, maybe getting towards the 5 or 6 bar I don't use it again till I have been on the road and it is recharged.

I have now bought solar panels but haven't been out on the road so haven't used them yet. That will mean I can keep the battery charged while parked for longer.

Beth54 · Guru

jetj wrote:
If you have a cig lighter attached to the battery you can buy a voltmeter on a lighter plug which makes it easy to check the voltage. Fairly cheap at Deal Extreme around $5

Oh wow! That'd be ideal! Thanks for that. May be a good idea to add that to the Tips etc thread Janette. Do you know what it's called?

-- Edited by Beth54 on Sunday 9th of September 2012 08:04:08 PM

Beth54 · Guru

Happywanderer wrote:
In simpler terms Brian I read those figures off the paper that came with it.
When it is full it is on 10 bars as I explained above. They are little green lights so can't be altered in any way.
The only way, at the moment, that the house battery charges is when I am driving, so I have no way of overcharging it. it just charges. Easy.
I never let it go below 5 bars as I said but normally wouldn't let it go below 6 or 7 bars.
When I am driving there is nothing being used on the house battery. I don't leave anything on.
So in simple terms If I seethe gauge has dropped down too much, maybe getting towards the 5 or 6 bar I don't use it again till I have been on the road and it is recharged.

I have now bought solar panels but haven't been out on the road so haven't used them yet. That will mean I can keep the battery charged while parked for longer.

Good to hear that you got your solar panels Marj. I must admit, I didn't check my battery level while away this trip, but there was plenty of sun beating onto the panels so I'm sure it was fine. I don't have a guage but I bought a multi metre when I went into Gympie that day with Michael. Just have to remember how to use it.

Happywanderer · The Master

I think they are similiar to yours Beth. they look the same anyway. 120wtt.

Beth54 · Guru

Happywanderer wrote:
I think they are similiar to yours Beth. they look the same anyway. 120wtt.

Mine is 80watt. Sis and bil have a 120. You won't have any worries about time limits in future with that size.

jetj · Guru

If you have a cig lighter attached to the battery you can buy a voltmeter on a lighter plug which makes it easy to check the voltage. Fairly cheap at Deal Extreme around $5

jetj · Guru

Beth54 wrote:
jetj wrote:
If you have a cig lighter attached to the battery you can buy a voltmeter on a lighter plug which makes it easy to check the voltage. Fairly cheap at Deal Extreme around $5
Oh wow! That'd be ideal! Thanks for that. May be a good idea to add that to the Tips etc thread Janette. Do you know what it's called?

-- Edited by Beth54 on Sunday 9th of September 2012 08:04:08 PM

It's called a voltmeter, I've seen some on Ebay as well, Jaycar have them in their catalogue but $19.95. I can't vouch for their accuracy but read the same as my multimeter on the same battery.